Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie signed House Bill 2175 into law, exempting certain people from the state’s revolving door provisions.

In an effort to increase participation amongst the state’s experts and those with special knowledge, the law exempts members of a state task force from the revolving door provisions. A task force is a group which is created to study a specific problem for a specified period of time.

The law will take effect immediately.

Photo of Governor Abercrombie courtesy of Wikipedia.

On Friday, July 6, 2012, Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3722 into law, rewriting the state campaign contribution limits. Under this new law, if a natural person or an independent expenditure committee makes independent expenditures in support of, or in opposition to, the campaign of a candidate or incumbent in an amount over $250,000 for statewide office, or $100,000 for all other elective offices, then the contribution limits are waived for all candidates for that specific office. For example, if an independent expenditure committee spends more than $250,000 for commercials against candidate A, who is running for governor, then the contribution limits do not apply for any of the gubernatorial candidates.

The new law also establishes registration and reporting requirements for independent expenditure committees. The law goes into effect immediately, which means these rules apply for the state house and senate seats which are up for election in November.

And too, there is Emily Kesler. She goes to school at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois. Emily is double-majoring in Political Science and Psychology and is working on her minor in Business Institutions. She will be a senior after the summer.

Emily and I met this morning while slinging bags of carrots at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, located in Akron. Elizabeth Bartz stays active with the nonprofit activities of the church, and she gives us the opportunity to help. The interns were there to help with a food drive initiative—“Good Samaritans”—something the church does every month. Emily’s mother helps run the thing. I met her, and she was really nice.

This is Emily’s second stint interning at State and Federal Communications, Inc. and she is excited to be back. She remembers everyone’s name, and there’s energy and warmth behind it. She spends a lot of time in Chicago.

For fun? Emily rock climbs, and has just passed her belay test. She has also played soccer her whole life. For lunch? She eats paninis almost every day: mozzarella, tomato and basil.

“Rules of the Game: Debate Over Corporate Spending Spans Parallel Universes” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“Exclusive: Campaign donations by text? Not so fast, wireless carriers say” by Alina Selyukh (Reuters) in the Chicago Tribune.

“ESPN scores with political ads” by Tim Mak in Politico.

“Ethics Panel Weighs Whether to Continue Shelley Berkley Case” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

Arizona: “72 run under Arizona’s Clean Elections system” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Illinois: “Quinn OKs change in campaign finance law” by Chris Wetterich in the State Journal-Register.

New York: “More questions than answers in lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms” by James Odato in the Albany Times Union.

Oregon: “Donors finance Oregon’s initiatives” by Peter Wong in the Statesman Journal.

The Illinois Secretary of State announced that the lobbyist affirmation statement for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2012 is due on August 4, 2012.

For this report, the lobbyists will have to affirm its employers’ reports are accurate as they pertain to the itemized expenditures.

Crowds gathered along Route 18 in the Montrose area of Summit County Thursday evening to witness President Obama’s tour bus make its way through Northeast Ohio. Eager Democrats and Obama fans filled the street corners, waiting anxiously for the president to pass by their local restaurants, stores and businesses.

Through his “Betting on Ohio” tour, Obama campaigned across the manufacturing belt of Northern Ohio on July 5, visiting the areas where he had received support during his election in 2008.

Obama arrived in Toledo on Thursday, traveling on a black secret-service bus to his first stop in Maumee, Ohio where he visited Wolcott House Museum. His tour took him across Northern Ohio, where he attended an ice cream social at Washington Park in Sandusky, and visited James Day Park in Parma, a suburb of Cleveland.

Obama endorsed his economic policies, presented his resolution to salvage American automakers Chrysler and General Motors, and compared his views to those of his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney.

“Throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania, President Obama will talk about his efforts over the last three years to get our economy back on track, doubling down on American workers by saving the auto industry, investing in manufacturing and bringing jobs back to America,” the Obama campaign said in a statement, according to CNN’s Ashley Killough.

The crowds cheered and waved as Obama’s tour bus passed through Montrose. After residing for the evening at the Double Tree Hotel in Fairlawn, Obama chose an Akron diner for breakfast, indulging in eggs and bacon at Ann’s Place restaurant on South Hawkins Avenue. He continued his tour Friday to Dobbins Elementary in Poland, Ohio, before heading to Pittsburgh.

 
Announcing their decision on the last day of the judicial term, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld key parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The decision of the Court is already playing a role in the Presidential and congressional elections as both sides look to paint the ruling in their favor.

The ruling was a win for the Obama Administration as the ACA was a major achievement of the President’s first term. The president’s campaign has used the decision to build support and highlight individuals who have been affected by the legislation. However, while the ACA was by and large upheld, the Court ruled that the individual mandate portion of the law is constitutional only as a tax, not as a penalty. A decision that has given fodder to the right to paint the legislation as a tax increase.

To complicate matters for Republicans, aides to former Gov. Mitt Romney came out in a couple of interviews over the last week stating they agreed with the administration that the mandate was in fact a penalty and not a tax putting the campaign at odds with many in the party. Eric Fehrnstrom, advisor to Gov. Romney, said during an interview with the Washington Post, “The governor disagreed with the ruling of the court, he agreed with the dissent that was written by Justice Scalia, that very clearly said that the mandate was not a tax.”

These comments forced Gov. Romney to clarify his position in an interview with CBS News on July 4th, stating, “Well, the Supreme Court has the final word. And their final word is that Obamacare is a tax. So it’s a tax.”

While both campaigns are still working to find the appropriate way to approach the ruling, polling suggests the issue may not be as important or at least not as currently relevant as previously thought. The Pew Research Center released a poll this week showing 45% of respondents either didn’t know what the court had ruled or thought most of the law had been struck down. Furthermore, 63% of people 18-29 years old either thought the law had been struck down or didn’t know.

While it’s almost certain that healthcare will become an issue in the campaign (the house has scheduled a full repeal vote for July 19) both President Obama and Gov. Romney have worked to pivot the focus of the dialogue to jobs and the economy. June employment numbers were released today showing the economy added 80k jobs leaving the unemployment rate at 8.2% for the second straight month.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Bartz, who is celebrating the 19th anniversary of State and Federal Communications, Inc. We had our monthly staff meeting today, so we took the opportunity to express our thanks.

Cleveland has a new casino downtown, the Horseshoe Casino in the Higbee building, which looks exciting. Many of us are eager to find out what it is like. So, we decided to have a little fun.

The staff presented Elizabeth with a night on the town in Cleveland – complete with a dinner at La Strada on trendy East 4th Street and the chance for a little gambling at the Horseshoe. We threw in good luck dice and a four leaf clover for good measure.

Good luck, Elizabeth!

We have a column in the office with Don Drumm stars on it – one for each anniversary the company celebrates. We are all proud to add a beautiful new star to the collection.

From all of the staff, we offer our best wishes, Elizabeth! Many years of health and prosperity to you.

Photos courtesy of Alexa Livadas and Nicolette Koozer.

On the other side of the building, through a couple doors and down the hall is David Jones. David, at times, goes by Davey: Jones, or Crockett. A sophomore at Stark State in Canton, he studies Cisco Administration.

Davey stays busy being helpful. He fixes his family’s computers, he says, and upgrades his own. Sometimes he works on cars, and he takes things pretty easy over the summer.

For lunch, it seems he eats a very specific meal of turkey with pepper jack cheese, cherry yogurt, and an apple. David admits that this field is “far more complicated than I originally thought. Politics and lobbying in general are very complex subjects that I understand nothing about.”

This is David’s second job; he used to work food service back in his hometown—Norton, Ohio. He is excited to work here.

“I love it here,” he said. “It’s actually my field.” David works in IT, and is good at it.

Federal:

Assets Offshore Raise Romney Wealth Questions

Do Election Laws Encourage Attack Ads in Campaigns?

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

Ex-Arizona Lawmaker Files $10 Million Claim against Phoenix

Colorado

Gessler Hit with Another Campaign Finance Lawsuit – But This One He May Actually Like

Delaware

Delaware Business to Pay $500,000 in Campaign Probe

Florida

New Ethics Policy Toughens Rules for Lobbying Orange School Leaders

Illinois

Wrigley Renovation Plans Stalled by Political Flap

Maryland

Sports Tickets Banned as Gifts for Baltimore County Elected Officials

Michigan

Cap on Michigan Campaign Donations Survives Challenge

Missouri

Missouri Election Season Arrives without Ethics Law

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ethics Commission Considers Blackout Period for Filing Complaints

South Carolina

South Carolina Governor Cleared in Ethics Inquiry

Tennessee

Tim Burchett Subpoenas News Sentinel for Visitor Records, Surveillance Videos

Utah

Ruling Blocks Utah Ethics Initiative from Ballot

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

In honor of Independence Day, this week I have found two interesting sites featuring a historical project that took place on the 4th of July in 1959 and a website introducing patriotic phone apps that offer games, puzzles and quizzes. Our Highlighted Sites of the Week are clerk.house.gov and gov.tech.com.

According to the Historical Highlights section of the Office of the Clerk website, President Dwight D. Eisenhower arranged the cornerstone for the East Front extension of the U.S. Capitol on the 4th of July. Thousands of people gathered at the construction site for a ceremony honoring the 1959 project.

Eisenhower spoke to his audience about commemorating the Declaration of Independence that provided the groundwork for American society. “As we now lay this new cornerstone in the United States Capitol, we are grateful for the courageous beginnings of a new nation, represented by the first stone.”

In the spirit of Independence Day, Govtech featured an article called “4 Patriotic Apps to Celebrate Fourth of July” introducing phone apps ranging from United States Quizzle questions to Fireworks Arcade games. The United States Quizzle app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch features multiple-choice questions about presidential history and facts about states. Every correct answer awards 100 points, so users are encouraged to play!

Through a series of five beginner-level games, the free Fireworks Arcade app for iPhone and iPad offers various festive fireworks displays. One of the games, called Spark Samurai, allows the player to slice fireworks for points while avoiding bombs. Whether you have a knack for playing phone apps or learning about American history, these websites will inform and entertain you!

Enjoy these sites and have a nice weekend!

Photo of the U.S. Capitol by Kmccoy in Wikipedia.

Governor Jack Markell signed Senate Bill 212 into law in an effort to improve the online presence and public notice capabilities of the state’s procurement office.

The bill mandates that the state create, by May 1, 2013, a one-stop website which will post all bids with an estimated value of more than $50,000.

This website must be accessible to all contractors and the general public. Further, the website will allow the state’s municipalities to advertise their bidding opportunities on the same site.

“White House Orders Political Ad Info To Be Posted Online” by Seth Cline in U.S. News and World Report.

Here is the order published by the Federal Register: “Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations; Extension of the Filing Requirement for Children’s Television Programming Report (FCC Form 398)”

“How hackers can code a better America” by Luke Fretwell in Govfresh.

“Civic kickstart: Citizinvestor wants to help your local project get funded” by Luke Fretwell in Govfresh.

“Agencies should publish lists of all their data, group says” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Indiana: “Twitter town hall meeting taxes lawmaker’s ability to be concise” by Eric Bradner in the Evansville Courier & Press.

New Jersey: “Chris Christie, YouTube star?” by Caitlin McDevitt in Politico.

“Jack Abramoff: Healthy ruling for lobbyists” by MJ Lee in Politico.

“Maryland lobbying totals led by gambling interests” by Annie Linskey in the Baltimore Sun.

“Groups Admit to Lobbying Illegally to Aid Mayor’s Plans” by Ray Rivera in The New York Times.

Take a look at The Hill’s “Lobbying World” news summary.

“Common Cause files complaint against Minnesota Majority” by Jennifer Brooks in the Star Tribune.

Video courtesy of Politico.